Mumbai, Jun 1 (IANS): FMCG-to-hospitality major ITC on Tuesday reported a 1.3 per cent year-on-year decline in its standalone net profit for the January-March quarter, at Rs 3,748.41 crore.

During the same period of FY20, the company had posted a standalone net profit of Rs 3,797.08 crore.

Its revenue from operations during the period under review increased 24 per cent on a year-on-year basis to Rs 14,156.96 crore.

ITC's total expenditure in the last quarter of FY21 increased 31.46 per cent to Rs 10,075.03 crore.

In a statement, the company said that the operating environment during the year was rendered extremely challenging by the outbreak of the pandemic, which caused unprecedented disruptions across the company's operating segments.

"The company pivoted smartly to address these dynamic challenges demonstrating agility and speed in adapting to the 'new normal' by resuming operations expeditiously and launching innovative products in record time to address emergent consumer needs," it said.

It added that relentless focus on cost reduction across businesses aided in partially mitigating the impact of negative operating leverage.

While a sequential pick-up in all operating segments in the second half of the year mitigated the impact, the disruptions in the first half weighed on the overall performance for the year, it added.

The board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 5.75 per share, including interim dividend of Rs 5 per share, and total dividend for FY21 is thus Rs 10.75 per share (FY20: Rs 10.15 per share).